OVERCOMING DISCOURAGEMENT

Scriptures: Jeremiah 20:1-13

Introduction
Discouragement is part of life. Discouragement comes most often when you do right things but
experience poor results. You work hard, but you don't make progress. You show up to practice
every day, giving it your all, but you lose every game. You spend time with your child - going
out of your way to parent the best you know how - but she rebells.

Discouragement eats a hole in our hearts. It makes us want to quit, saying things we shouldn't
say, shaking our fists at God. That's how Jeremiah felt. God called him to speak a harsh message
to a rebellious people. He was obeyed. Yet on one occasion Jeremiah so angered an assistant to
the high priest and chief security officer for the temple, Pashhur, that the man arrested Jeremiah,
beat him, and threw him in jail, locking him in stocks so that his body was contorted, writhing in
pain. Here was a man in deep distress. He endured physical, emotional, spiritual, and
professional anguish. He walked into deep despair, all for doing God's will.

Jeremiah was released the next day, emerging with a sentence of his own. He gave Pashhur a
new name: "Terror on Every Side." This name described the terror Babylon would inflict on
Judah, specifically the fate Pashhur would suffer when God's judgment fell. He would die and be
buried outside Israel, which was considered a judgment, for the Gentile lands were labeled
unclean. But what difference would that make? He had been preaching lies in the name of God
and encouraging idolatry in the temple. So, why not live in a land of lies and idols, and
eventually be buried there?

Enough about Pashhur - it is Jeremiah's rise above discouragement on which we want to focus.
In this last of his recorded laments, which is similar to Jesus' Gethsemane experience, we find the
highs and lows of human emotions: grief and joy, despair and delight, perplexity and praise. Like
Jesus, Jeremiah reminds us that even a faithful servant of God can become discouraged. Jeremiah
lived above his feelings and fulfilled God's will.

We, too, can rise above discouragement. Here's how.

I. Be honest - tell God how you feel (v. 7)

Jeremiah was honest. He felt deceived by God. The word deceived means to be enticed or
seduced. Obviously, God does not mislead or trick people, but Jeremiah felt that God had lured
him into the ministry only to make him a laughingstock. He felt like a helpless girl who had been
seduced and overpowered by a deceptive lover. He felt ridiculed and offended. His voice was not
making a difference. He was crying out for the people to repent, yet they continued toward
destruction and judgment. Jeremiah's intense lament was private – for God alone, not public.
God wants us to talk to him, even when we are angry, upset, and frustrated. He wants us to tell
the truth. A lot of dishonesty goes on in relationships, even with God.

People ask me: Is it wrong to be angry with God? First, we must remember that anger is an
emotion, and oftentimes emotions are neither right nor wrong: they just are. What we do with our
emotions is a separate issue. People are sometimes surprised by the answer I give them: "If you
feel anger toward God you should tell him. God is big enough and strong enough to handle your
hurt and anger. So tell him about.  He wants you to pour out your heart to him. He wants you to
express what is in your heart."

Didn't Jesus pour out his heart to the Father in Gethsemane and on the cross? We should do the
same. Hold nothing back when you pray. Tell the Lord exactly what's in your heart, especially
the bad feelings. By pouring out these emotions we are freed from their hold, and we enter more
deeply into the loving embrace of the Lord.

God does not want us stuck in anger or any other negative feelings we may have. This is why we
should be honest with God in prayer. We should go before God as we are, not pretending to be
someone we are not. If we are honest with God in prayer, we will feel a sense of deep freedom,
and we will find ourselves having a deeper relationship with God and less discouragement.

To bottle up our anger - even anger toward God - does only harm, never good. To be dishonest -
even in our prayers - clouds our relationship with God. God desires real people, honest and
forthright, who pour out their hearts before him, bringing him all their motives and emotions.
The truth is that God knows the depths of our hearts - our thoughts, our motives, our emotions -
even before we speak them. So ,if we fail to be honest with God then we are only deceiving
ourselves. Honesty with God is liberating.

II. Be obedient - keep doing what you've been called to do (v. 9)

Because of Pashhur's unjustified actions, Jeremiah was ready to let go of God and leave him out
of all conversations. But he couldn't do that. He would not be at peace doing anything else. God's
message was like a fire in his bones that he could not put out. He could not be quiet about it.
Jeremiah did not preach because he had to say something, but because he had something to say.
Not saying it would have destroyed him.

Do you know why most pastors keep at the task despite rejection and anger? Plain and simple,
the call of God upon their lives keeps them going. I spent time with a group of pastors. We
bemoaned the struggles of our vocation. One said: "Do you want to know what I tell everyone
who comes to me asking if they should go into the ministry? I tell them, ‘If you can do
something else, do it.'" Another pastor piped up, "You know why I don't do something else?
Because I am called."

When you are called, you can't ignore that call.

The call comes first from the heart - internal - as a result of the continued drawing from the Holy
Spirit. This conviction is as deep within the innermost being of a person. Eventually, it becomes
unshakeable. It marks a person for life. In time the inward call of God is reflected outward, as the
Christian community confirms it. No one can fulfill the difficult role of ministry adequately who
has not been called and commissioned by Christ (internally) and the Church (externally).

Warren Wiersbe, former pastor and author, writes, "The work of ministry is too demanding and
difficult for a man to enter it without a sense of divine calling. Men enter and then leave the
ministry usually because they lack a sense of divine urgency. Nothing less than a definite call
from God could ever give a man success in the ministry." (Howard F. Sugden and Warren W.
Wiersbe, When Pastors Wonder How (Chicago: Moody, 1973), p. 9.

Four questions emerge to evaluate whether one has a call to the ministry. Is there confirmation
from God and by others? Are instructional shepherding and leadership abilities evident? Is there
a longing to serve God with one's whole heart? Is there a lifestyle of integrity? Ministry is more
about being that it is about doing.

H.B. London in his book, The Heart of a Great Pastor, writes: "In those times when we stumble
for our footing in the awful swellings of the Jordan, and the Evil One whispers in our ear, ‘Why
did you ever decide to be a preacher anyway?' the right answer can only be, ‘Cause I was called,
you fool!'" (H. B. London and Neil Wiseman, The Heart of a Great Pastor)

When called, obey. Obedience is difficult and painful, yet I suppose disobedience is moreso.

III. Be watchful - know that the Lord is with you (v. 11)
Jeremiah realized that he wasn't alone. "But the LORD is with me like a violent warrior" (Jer.
20:11). He was not on the losing side.  He was going to win because the Lord was with him like
a mighty warrior. God would deal effectively, in his own way and time, with his enemies.

Often in our discouragement we look inward - to our problems, our frustrations, and our situation
- when we need to look upward to a God who has not abandoned us. He is with us. He
accompanies us. He is a present-tense God.

Can you imagine the difference it would make in your outlook if you remained consciously
aware that God is with you? Imagine going into a difficult board meeting knowing that God is
beside you. Picture entering into a stressful presentation knowing that God walks with you.
Envision confronting the status quo with the mighty arm of the Lord surrounding you.

Knowledge of God's presence can help us accomplish significant things despite our
discouragement. It provides courage, valor, guts, strength, tenacity, and perseverance.

A. W. Tozer writes:

Living in the glow of God's presence will enable you to fight on despite discouragement.

IV. Be worshipful - praise God with your whole hear (v. 13)
Jeremiah's despair turned to joy, his defeated attitude turned to triumph, his dismay to courage.
The key that unlocked the door to victory was praise. Jeremiah triumphantly proclaimed, "Sing
to the Lord! Praise the Lord" (Jer. 20:13).

Praise is the one weapon in the Christian's arsenal against which Satan has no defense. When we
praise God we acknowledge that he is in charge - he can do what he wants, when he wants, and
how he wants.

Praise is more than just acknowledging God for the good that comes our way. Praise is accepting
from God all that comes our way, both the good and the bad. The praise we offer when things
don't go our way is far more precious to God than the praise we offer when all is well.

Praise does four things:

A. Praise recognizes a Provider

Praise takes our minds off our situation and focuses them on God. It gives God the right to rule
and to reign in our lives how he sees fit. It acknowledges that God knows more about what he is
doing than we do. It accepts that God can take all the bad stuff of life and make something
beautiful out of it.

B. Praise acknowledges a plan

A few chapters later Jeremiah records God's words to Israel: "'For I know the plans I have for
you' - this is the LORD's declaration – 'plans for your welfare, not for disaster, to give you a
future and a hope" (29:11). God weaves a tapestry of our lives. We don't always see the finished
product. Sometimes to get to the end we have our share of difficulties. When we realize God has
a plan, we have two options: we can fight it, or we can embrace it.

C. Praise accepts the present

Praise is based on a total and joyful acceptance of the present as part of God's loving, perfect will
for us. Praise is not based on what we think or hope will happen in the future. We praise God,
not for what we expect will happen in our around us, but we praise him for who he is and where
and how we are right now.

D. Praise releases the power

Prayer opens the door for God's power to move into our lives. But the prayer of praise releases
more of God's power than any other form of petition. The Psalmist wrote, "But thou art holy, O
thou that inhabits the praises of Israel" (Psalm 22:3 KJV). God actually dwells, inhabits, and
resides in our praise. God's power and presence is near when we praise him.

When we praise God for the present situation as a part of God's plan, God's power is unleashed.
This power cannot be brought about by a new attitude or a determined effort of self-will, but by
God working in our lives.
Conclusion
Let me close with a legend that reveals the source of discouragement. Supposedly, the devil put
his tools up for sale, marking each for public inspection with its appropriate sale price. Included
were hatred, envy, jealousy, deceit, lying, and pride. Laid apart from these was a rather harmless
looking but well-worn tool – discouragement - marked at an extremely high price. Why the
costly price? The devil answered: "Because it is more useful to me than the others. I can pry
open a person's heart with that when I cannot get near her with the other tools. Once inside, I can
make her do whatever I choose. It is badly worn because I use it on almost everyone, since few
people know it belongs to me."

Many people succumb to this infamous tool of Satan. Maybe you feel its effect now. You can
rise above discouragement. Will you:

 Be honest - tell God how you feel?

 Be obedient - keep doing what you've been called to do?
 Be watchful - know that the Lord is with you?
 Be worshipful - praise God with your whole heart?